Cafe Bleu

It's an interesting exploration of different genres, but not really a great version of any of them. The rap especially I could have done without. I would listen again to a few tracks for sure, but nothing on this stands out to me as a must listen.

I've never even heard of this band, but i liked the album. It give Vulfpeck. Would listen again

At times I was really digging this album, at other times I was questioning the creative choices so I'll give it a 3

There were a lot of songs on this album, I listened to the tracklist on wikipedia. Cool piano in mick's blessings. Otherwise, kinda bland, and did not enjoy the singing. 2*

I liked the mix of styles, but then some songs were good and some fell a bit flat. I wish you could mark out of 10 rather than 5, as I would give it a 3.5 if I could.

It started off as some easy listening jazz like a watered down Tropeux Bleu and I was having a pretty good time. Then I heard A Gospel and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The album definitely lacked focus. I did quite enjoy You're The Best Thing, Here's One That Got Away and Headstart For Happiness so that brought it back from being a 2 star.

nop.

Parece um café concerto dos anos 80. 💩

Hits and misses

Not as bad as some reviews say, but not great. Some cool tunes but some abominations

Well, this is certainly a surprise. I only recently found out that Paul Weller had another band after the Jam, and it sounds nothing like them! The instrumentation is OK, but it sounds a bit washed out and sometimes generic. I realize Weller was experimenting here with keyboardist Mick Talbot, and when they land it, it works really well, especially the melodic, jazzy guitar lines. “The Whole Point of No Return” and “The Paris Match” (with Tracey Thorn of Everything but the Girl on vocals) are both soothing and sultry, and “My Ever Changing Moods” is a pop classic. I also enjoy “You’re the Best Thing” and “Headstart for Happiness”. And while the rap on “A Gospel” rubs people on here the wrong way, it’s fine. I’ve definitely heard worse, and the backing track is pretty solid. Overall, though, I find it generic jazzy schmaltz at best, and at worst, music for white people trying to sound more “cultured” with their taste. Yawn. Go back to playing punk rock and leave the rest to Vince Guaraldi and A Tribe Called Quest (can you imagine that collaboration?). 2.5 stars.

how did you know i love chaotic jazz to plan a heist to?

An interesting listen. Some good tracks, but also some absolute stinkers.

I couldn’t make my mind up with this, I think overall it’s not that great and none of the songs really stood out but I quite enjoyed it in parts

This is really terrible, a proper Bottom Ten contender. "A Gospel" sounds like something the England football team might have recorded. Desperately unpleasant.

I’ve always thought of The Style Council as a singles band, but none of the really good ones are on this LP. Nice enough but not their best work really. “Council Meetin’” is the highlight. Two stars. Tom.

This is a Paul Weller project, and like every other Paul Weller project, he is too caught up in making music exactly like his favorite jazz and soul records to contribute meaningfully to the tradition of their art. This is more annoying because when he sticks to post punk and new wave, he can really write, and make some excellent contributions to those genres. But there's no way around the fact that the first half of this record is literally just vaguely pleasant cafe jazz. As in jazz which lacks substance, or originality and is seemingly made to be played in the background of a restaurant. I am aware that this sounds like really mean, but at this point I have had 3 Paul Weller records, and on each, there is some large tract of time just dedicated to making big glassy eyes at his favorite records, while also treating them with *so* much reverence, that he is incapable of transforming them in any meaningful way, or making any kind of original or interesting artistic statement within their genre. The breadth and depth of jazz had come so far, by even the late '50s, that it makes Weller's take on the genre here seem even more surface level and safe and lacking in adventurous spirit than it would have. It's genuinely disappointing. This album is saved by two things. The jazz is, by design, vaguely pleasant. And, like I said, his New Wave stuff on the second half here is like actually good. But that again just makes it frustrating that he is so discontented in making this good new wave, and must instead fail at making good jazz and soul on every album. It's incredibly frustrating.

Nah

The essential jack of all trades record. It does a bit of everything but does not do much to excel in anything.

This was my first sophisti-pop album, I'm not sure if I like this genre enough to listen to more of it but I really like the instrumentation on this one. "A Gospel" is genuinely great. This album does get a bit bland toward the end, though. I'd say this is better as background music than something to sit down and listen to. :3

Sounds like something you would hear in the background of a pretentious cafe

Very nearly a one star. How Paul Weller went from writing A Town Called Malice to this tedious, jazz inspired crap in the space of one year is remarkable. Avoid.

An unexpected one for me—smoky, jazzy, & quite fun, honestly, with the occasional ‘80s flair throughout.

Elegance

Mangler revidering

This has a superb chill-out-like vibe to it all. The album was a lot more jazzy than I expected when I was just 1 song in. I guess this is mostly notable and probably put on here because it has Paul Weller (former frontman of the Jam) on it and was one of his post-Jam bands. I found the first side was honestly real good, though the second side fell of a mini-cliff unfortunately. I however enjoyed it all when adding everything together. I think it ultimately just barely gets a 4 star. I'm undecided though if it warrants a place on the 1001 list. Highlight Song/s: "Me Ship Came In!", "The Paris Match", "Dropping Bombs on the White House"

Jazzy, stylish,cool

This was a nice and unexpected find. I had an impression that I wasn't going to enjoy Style Council - my gut feeling was that they'd be similar to 80's New Wave bands like Depeche Mode or Duran Duran, both of whom I don't enjoy. I was pleasantly surprised to find this wasn't the case. Actually, this is a true musician's album. Mick’s Blessings startled me with how great it was for an opener. The tracks that followed incorporated elements of jazz, classical and pop/rock in a very classy way. I wasn't a fan of Strength Of Your Nature, this leant too much into the 80’s sound I don't enjoy, but aside from that, I was overall happy to pay a visit to Cafe Bleu.

The first two or three songs I liked but then I got increasing uninterested as it went on. Not for me.

A jazz album wasn't was I expected this morning but its what I got and I love it. The mix of slower and higher tempo jazz, the smooth solo singing, the backing vocals, the different people coming on and doing single songs. This album is a lot of different things throughout and I really enjoyed every part. A totally new band to me but from today it will be something added to my repertoire for when the mood calls for jazz.

The most generically 80s of 80s-dom, including the terrible white boy “rapping.” There’s a reason people remember Paul Weller from The Jam, and not this group. 2⭐️

Honestly did not expect to like this as much as I did. Pretty wild style variations all around. Almost like a Ween album, but taking itself more seriously. Recommended.

Not bad at all. All pretty decent but nothing that grabs me

Rate: 7.5/10.

I always had an idea of what sophisti-pop may be, but I definitely know what it is after hearing The Style Council. I am familiar with Paul Weller's work with The Jam and his solo work (and as always, this book loves to give English artists in a band/group a spot in this book for a solo album from that artist), but did not know he was a member of The Style Council. I also didn't know that he could rap...and it turns out he cannot rap, but that does not stop him from trying. The less said about "A Gospel," the better. Another person's review of this album said he/she preferred the instrumental tracks prior to Paul Weller singing, which feels like the opposite of how I would feel about Cafe Bleu. And yet, as I was approximately 35 minutes into the song "Strength of Your Nature" I understand where that person was coming from. Musically, this is all over the map and some of it hits and there are also some misses in here. A Gospel, Strength of Your Nature, and while "You're the Best Thing", the instrumentals, "Here's One that Got Away," and "My Ever Changing Moods" really hit for me. My favorite tracks: The Whole Point of No Return Me Ship Came In! My Ever Changing Moods You're the Best Thing Here's One that Got Away Headstart for Happiness

Way too shlocky for me. There was one song at the beginning that was pretty but this is overall not something that resonated with me at all. Sophisti-pop? More like sophisti-slop… *Fav tracks: Me Ship Came In!*

Could be a 2 for me, but I think a 3 makes sense, I think the 3 Great songs outweigh the 1 horrible song and the rest being rather eye-rolly. Sort of faux jazz bar pop does not at all work for me, and feels like it was probably dated the minute it was made. That rap song was, bizarre.

they reeled me in with the tracey thorn feature! the rap was a little kooky and corny, but the lyricism was thoughtful and i will always commend artists who create lyrics about society/activism. will have to give it a few more listens, but there were definitely a few songs that i didn't care for. i am continuously shocked by how many people on here refuse to do the very thing this book is trying to encourage: expanding your music taste with new genres and artists. god forbid!

3,5! I think it will only grow on me :3

I was looking forward to hearing this as I like the Jam. What a boring set of eighties tripe

A little bit funky, a little silky, with some random mid-album curveballs

Very fun!

There’s a lot going on here but I kind of liked it

They really did a lot here

This is precisely the movement that killed jazz. They tried to figure out why it's liked, they narrowed into it and stripped it of its essence, of soul. The first few tracks were tolerable, I was thinking a low 3 as it's nothing special aside from a clear ear for music production, but it's also musically offensive. It feels like it's targeting people with educated egos to trick them into appreciating music they're 'supposed' to like. Outside of the '80s it feels dated and all over the place, with little direction aside from whatever probably sells to the target demographic. 2.3/5

I don't know what's going on with this album but I like it

I was not previously familiar with the artist or album. This album is hard to describe, as it touches on lots of different genres like jazz, hip hop, new wave, and soul, but seems to be pop at its core. The musicianship is very good here, and the songs are catchy. I enjoyed this and would listen again.

Liked some of the chiller more jam-jazzy songs but then the 80s rap came in and it was a hard no. Tonally all over

some odd choices for a record like this, such as the rapping, but overall it's a decent album, if not a bit too 80s.

I really liked the instrumental parts of this album. It was jazzy and really well done. I took points off for the rap...but I'll listen to this again, there's enough there to keep me interested

Yes it's bad but didn't you guys enjoy this?? It's SOOO funny I had to stop to laugh at several points. There's a song about bombing the White House and a bunch of zany instrumentals, complete with an out-of-left-field rap performance that could have only come from the 80s. Like it or not, I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.

This was unique and cool.

Gear: Letshuoer S12 PRO Artwork: 🧥🧥🟦 Production: 🔉🤨🤏 Music: 🙅‍♀️🤔😅 Rating: ☕(☕)/5

"Easy listening for pretentious twats."??? c

Polished lounge music for white wine spritzer drinkers

I was listening at work and someone came into my office and commented that it sounded like we were in the lobby of a holiday inn. Spot on.

Jazzy tones with very strong bass slaps, energetic, very good discovery.

Loved the smooth jazz tracks, but was more surprised by how much I loved the 80s hip-pop tracks in between.

elevator music casino lobby music elevator music elevator music

There’s a special edition version of this 12 song album that’s 3 hours and 21 minutes on Apple Music. It has 54 tracks. Whats the purpose of this list? Best albums? Influential albums? Interesting albums? This doesn’t really fit anything.

Super boring, like 2 or 3 good songs and the rest is a snooze

Surprisingly for someone of my age and musical tastes I never really got The Style Council, possibly because it was a bit too 'pop' and a touch over-produced (I think, personally). This album was better than expected. More than a couple of nice moments, although I didn't feel the urge to listen again and I doubt I'd seek it out in future. It falls in the 3 star bracket for me.

Not the Jam

Bien.

I enjoy most of Paul Weller's work but had completely skipped The Style Council. How can he go from The Jam to this insipid and uninspiring tripe? There is a glimmer of hope in the middle with You're the Best Thing, but it's short lived. Thankfully Paul was able to recover with his later solo career.

My mum listens to The Style Council. She also listens to The Lighthouse Family and M People. I’ll leave you to decide whether this is good taste or not. I didn’t like this album. It was wishy washy.

I could have swore that You're the Best Thing was a Lenny Kravitz song. I've heard a lot of records like this while working through this project and as hard as I try to get the appeal, I can't find it. I think you had to be there.

Sort of funky.

Fine. Nothing pulling it in either ditection.

Man, what happened here? I originally saw "1984," "English," and "debut" and was preparing for the worst given some of the other stuff I've gotten from this list. Then the first half of the album completely took me by surprise and blew me away. Then that second half just completely fell apart. That first half is so strong though.

Shit. A couple songs seem well written but not executed in a way that make me want to listen. Paul Weller involved albums are now 2 for 2 one star albums for me

More than average. Great variety of musical styles. Unfortunately to such an extent that it also contains one or two songs that are plain annoying. Headstart for Happiness is an example. Council Meetin' should have been held behind closed doors.

vibes for sure

british

Wow - not what I was expecting, but I was enjoying it initially. Somewhere toward the end when in became a mid '80s UK R&B album I wasn't as interested. Call it 2.5 rounded down to 2 for this one. Wasn't bad but wasn't great either.

This album is a little all over the place, chaotic even. Was not expecting the early hip-hop with horn riffs in the background...... I am still coming to terms with that song in particular.

Paul Weller has made some excellent music, and after reading some poor reviews on here, I really wanted to be able to defend this. I remember it coming out and thinking that the cover photo was quite cool, and I didn't object to "You're The Best Thing". By 1984, teenage me was mainly listening to Bowie and Roxy's back catalogues (I was cool once) so I wasn't bothered to seek the album out. I do recall some bemusement in the music press. And, oh dear. It does seem inexplicable that he went in this direction. Actually, not inexplicable; it's okay to want to make something happy and soulful - but turned out to be an unfortunate decision in this case. Most of it is just very poor. And the rap is as bad as everyone's said. I'm just relieved that he did improve again after this, er, blip. Jam fans must have been so bewildered. I still think You're The Best Thing is a good song though, and I liked the Tracy Thorn one. Headstart for Happiness was a bit more ambitious, too.

I only really know of Style Council by Shout it to the Top - so was rather surprised by the jazz and boogy woogie piano and the less said about the rapping the better. I struggle with jazz at the best of times but this felt superficial and shallow. The second half sounded like a shit van morissen cover band and I don't like Van Morrisson.

Cafe Bleu You’ve got to admire the apparent complete about face from The Jam to the Style Council, although the soul influence on song choice and songwriting in The Jam was pretty much there from the start with Slow Down on the debut through to Sound Affects and most obviously The Gift. You could argue the soulfulness works better with the punkish mod of The Jam in Precious and Town Called Malice, than the more wine bar smoothness of this album, but I really do like how far he pushed it on here, and there are some great songs on the album, irrespective of production and style. The Whole Point of No Return, Strength of Your Nature, Here’s One That Got Away (an obvious Dexy’s influence via Mick Talbot) and Headstart of Happiness are great, and My Every Changing Moods and You’re the Best Thing are among some of Weller’s best songs I think. The Paris Match has its moments, but Tracy Thorn's soporific presence diminishes it somewhat But there are undoubtedly a few tracks that either don’t work or don’t seem like brilliant ideas to start with - Me Ship Came In feels pretty fillery, the jazz feels a bit ersatz on Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse. A Gospel’s synth bass is nice, but the rapping is bad - even if dipping nascent hip hop was sort of ahead of its time for 1982 - and the overall result is not good. Think i’ll nudge it to a 4, it has a few flaws and feels a little disjointed, but I do really like it and there are some great songs. 🔵🔵🔵🔵 Playlist submission: You’re The Best Thing

An acquired taste, and likely nauseating to dyed-in-the-wool Jam fans of the time. Weller clearly has a genuine love for jazz and soul. The jazz-love is reflected in the very accomplished jazz scat 'Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse'. It's a bit toothless as political commentary (if that's what it's meant to be), and would be more aptly called 'Afternoon Tea at the Whitehouse'. And that's the problem - much of it is of the coffee shop. Something non-offensive and non-arousing to sup your mocha latte to. In amongst it there's a couple of novelty tracks that are enjoyable - the Jools Holland-sounding 'Mick's Blessing', the bouncy 'Me Shop Came In!', and 'Council Meetin'', a brisk ditty. And the singles 'My Ever Changing Moods' and 'Youre the Best Thing' are delightful blue-eyed soul. 'Headstart for Happiness' a fine nod to Jackie Wilson and 'Here's the One That Got Away' a fair nod to Dexy's. The proof is in the pudding. Weller quickly returned to rock guitar and has continued with that ever since. If not a failed experiment it was certainly a time limited one, with little mileage. Barely the mileage for one album.

Strong 2, might be rating lower due to recent strength of albums, you have been graded on a curve mate

Very enjoyable jazz, some songs not my fave style of singer though. 3.5 rounded down

This album is all over the place. The jazzy, big band stuff is the best part.

Vanilla jazz (mine should be NOLA brass or bossa nova) with some unremarkable 80s pop mixed in. Not my favorite

Favorite Track: You're the Best Thing

I fail to understand why I needed to hear 80's Brits playing 60's lounge before I died. And then they rapped!

I expected to not like it and was pleasantly surprised that I did like it. Every song had its own sound and was so much better than many of the albums in this project where the whole album sounds like one continuous song.

3.3/5 - Can't be bothered to write a well thought out review, just going to speak my mind here. Jazzy, but not the "nice background" kind of jazzy, and not quite jazz either. At one point I was feeling "please I want to leave the café now" and then at another it felt too funky and high energy for any time of the day. Oh and the brass - I've had 7 years playing a brass instrument till I quit, and I don't want 7 more. Just wasn't feeling it with this one today.

2/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-style-council/cafe-bleu/reviews/4/ Doesn’t really seem like the council actually landed on a style for this album. Some songs are kinda fun, but the album in its entirety is just wildly inconsistent, with synthpop, jazz, instrumental pop, and even a hiphop track. Non of the individual track would even be standouts in their genres, which makes the album hardly worthwhile.

Very weird album with a very mixed bag of songs.

Not a fan.

Nice, very nice.

Rari

What an unusual concoction of music this is. Was this considered quirky and cool in 1984? This seems one hell of a departure from The Jam, and although I commend the bravery, I suppose, I'm not sure I particularly commend the actual music.

Undeniable talent and really well-crafted songs. The smooth jazz just isn't really my thing. If for some reason I did want to put a jazz album on for the evening, I would probably stick with one of the Masters that they emulate. With all that said, I would have no problem hearing this at a party or in the background somewhere. (Almost loses a start for "A Gospel'. That's just absolutely horrible. I imagine that every musician involved in making that song cringes if they hear it today. But I'll let it slide given the date.)

Quite eclectic, I like the groove of Strength of Your Nature, Micks Blessings and The Whole Point of No Return and You're The Best Thing, Here's One that got away and headstart for happiness. Not so into the piano and vocal only tracks, doesn't feel massively cohesive. The second half is pretty solid when it is more poppy and upbeat

rym 3.32 Sophisti-Pop/Jazz Pop 跃动与柔情交织出整张专辑的主基调，既有工整的灵魂乐编排，律动的shuffle舞步，又有随性的嘻哈，甚至有轻盈明快的器乐小品，精彩纷呈。我竟感受到一些深层次的共鸣，真是不可思议。 pick: Blue Café, My Ever Changing Moods, Dropping Bombs on the White House, You're the Best Thing

Moving on

Some great tracks, many good lyrics, quality production sound.

This washed over me, and was rather forgettable. It wasn’t unpleasant, though, and for that reason I’m putting it right in the middle with a 3.